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comment by lelibertaire
lelibertaire  ·  3456 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: What book has impacted you the most?

I'll go with some non-fiction.

Manufacturing Consent not only broadened how I observe and consume the mass media, it also taught me many uncomfortable truths about my country's politics and foreign policy and backed itself up with a plethora of citations.

I read it as I headed into a adulthood, and I think the timing was perfect. I still viewed the government naively as a mostly benevolent power that usually acted as the moral authority of the world. Manufacturing Consent made me question that notion and see that this country was no more noble than any other world power in history, acting in its own interests mostly, which usually overlapped with the interests of its political elite. It also taught me how to spot certain, subtle biases that permeate through mass media during news coverage.

Since then, I think I've become more refined in my ability to consume news, seek sources, and notice disparity in coverage. It also opened me to new political opinions and other works to consume and learn from.